In 1929, America seemed fairly totally different for girls than the nation we see right this moment. Women had solely just lately been allowed to vote in elections, and so they’d been just lately been granted only a little bit of management over their property and earnings. Margaret Sanger had fought for a girl’s proper to study contraception, however there have been nonetheless limits on the occasions and locations girls have been allowed to work. America was mere months away from the Great Depression, an period that may see falling start and marriage charges and a rising variety of girls enter the workforce in an effort to assist themselves. It was in 1929 that Maude Yagle grew to become the primary and solely lady to win the Indianapolis 500.
Details about Yagle’s youth are difficult to come back by, however Kate Bekk of Motorsport Anthology reviews that her analysis reveals Yagle was born Maude Fagley on March 19, 1883. She hailed from a coal mining household, then discovered her technique to Philadelphia, the place she married profitable businessman Edward C. Yagle. His growing wealth enabled him to have interaction in motorsport, together with by sponsoring native racer Ray Keech in his pursuit of the World Land Speed Record. That gave Yagle her first style of motorsport, and she or he gave the impression to be hooked.
To say that ladies weren’t welcome on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in that period — not less than in knowledgeable capability — can be an understatement. Women have been banned from coming into the press and pit areas till 1971 (and that was due to the pressure that was journalist Denise McCluggage), and no lady would get behind the wheel till Janet Guthrie certified for the long-lasting race in 1977. Yes, girls have been allowed to assist sponsor vehicles or take part with a crew in different methods, however when it got here to truly encouraging girls to meaningfully have interaction with the operating of the race, nobody was all that prepared to assist a girl out.
Not till Yagle.
In 1928, Yagle acquired a rear-wheel-drive automobile owned by the deceased Frank Lockhart, IndyStar reviews, and entered the automobile in races beneath the title M. A. Yagle in an effort to forestall drawing consideration to herself as a girl. She employed Ray Keech, a former World Land Speed report holder and the person whose report Lockhart was attempting to beat on the time of his dying, to drive the Miller Simplex Piston Ring Special in 1928, and the machine was massively profitable, successful three of the six races it entered that yr — however the Indy 500 couldn’t but be positioned on the victory checklist. Keech suffered mechanical bother, and he completed in fourth place.
The subsequent yr, although, was way more profitable. Once once more, Yagle entered the Miller Simplex within the 500, retaining her extremely profitable driver into the 1929 season.
The 1929 Indy 500 was one in all transition. It was the ultimate occasion to be contested with a 91.5 cubic-inch displacement engine, and it additionally noticed a wholesome mixture of front- and rear-wheel drive vehicles, with the front-wheel drive machines dominating qualifying. Keech, in his rear-wheel-drive machine, began in sixth. For the primary yr, nobody used a using mechanic.
Within the primary 10 laps of the race, Keech has pushed his means as much as second place however was compelled to make a protracted cease on lap 21 to alter a tire. His tempo, although, was simply as spectacular because it had been at the beginning: he rejoined the sphere in tenth and rapidly began choosing off vehicles on his technique to the lead. A 3-minute cease later within the race to high up with gasoline and alter his three remaining tires didn’t hamper his momentum, and he cruised to an unchallenged victory when chief and reigning champion Louis Meyer misplaced gasoline strain on lap 157.
Keech’s victory was one for the historical past books. As he celebrated in victory lane, although, his record-breaking crew proprietor Maude Yagle may do little greater than watch from the grandstands.
This story, although, isn’t essentially a cheerful one. At the time of Yagle’s 1928 entry, newspapers rapidly uncovered her true identification. From the IndyStar:
But Ray Priest of Universal Service information service took discover and printed a narrative beneath the headline “Goshalmighty! Now look where the women are horning in!” The story mentioned the “weaker sex invades the speed game for no good reason at all, but it makes story.”
Yagle’s 500 victory ought to have silenced her critics, however Keech’s reign as champion lasted simply over two weeks. On June 15, 1929, Keech was concerned in a deadly accident on the Altoona 200-Mile Race on a board monitor in Pennsylvania. Details in regards to the four-car crash are tough to parse out, and a number of totally different variations of occasions have been reported. One driver struck a security railing, knocking it into the monitor. Whether Keech struck the railing himself, or struck one other automobile attempting to keep away from the railing, or each, is unclear. Reports agree that he was thrown from the automobile, however whether or not he was crushed by his personal careening chassis or run over by one other driver is unclear. What was clear, although, was that Keech was useless by the point the docs arrived. Allentown, PA newspaper The Morning Call reported that he was killed driving the Simplex Special.
Yagle repaired the automobile and employed a brand new driver, Jimmy Gleason, to compete simply three months after Keech’s dying. He flipped the automobile in a race at Mineola Fairgrounds in New York and suffered extreme accidents. Newspapers reported that Yagle, who witnessed the wreck, was taken to the hospital with “epileptic fits and shock.” Both recovered, and so they teamed up once more to finish the 1929 season in October.
For 1930, Yagle employed a brand new face in Frank Farmer, however by now Yagle’s automobile was rumored to be jinxed — however for Farmer and the opposite drivers who piloted the machine, the rumors solely turned out to be a combined bag at greatest. Farmer was in a position to set a brand new lap report at Langhorne Speedway, a Pennsylvania dust oval, however altering tides noticed it fail to be aggressive within the Indianapolis 500. When it got here to competing on native tracks, nevertheless, the Yagle-Miller Special was coveted sufficient that drivers have been prepared to disregard its supposedly in poor health destiny.
And then, in August 1932, Frank Farmer collided with one other driver throughout a warmth race. Both drivers died, and after seven years, Yagle’s automobile was lastly tucked away.
From there, it’s tough to know what occurred with Yagle — however there’s no report of her ever having entered one other race as a automobile proprietor. No one reported on her response. We can’t say for sure why, precisely, she withdrew from motorsport, however within the obituary following her dying in 1968 on the age of 85, there was no point out of her racing endeavors.
Yagle wasn’t the one lady to enter a car within the 500, however she undoubtedly stays probably the most profitable, which could be a sobering although contemplating the 100-plus years of racing at Indianapolis. Her place in historical past deserves to be acknowledged; then, we will actually start pursuing our subsequent race-winning lady crew proprietor.
Source: jalopnik.com